http://mmajunkie.comMACAU – Takanori Gomi and Mac Danzig each pocketed an extra $40,000 on Saturday night as “Fight of the Night” winners at UFC on FUEL TV 6.

Gomi took home the win with a split decision, one of two split calls out of seven decisions on the card, which took place at CotaiArena in Venetian Macau Resort Hotel as the UFC’s first event in China. But they had some competition.

And main event “Knockout of the Night” winner Cung Le might have gone in a different direction had he been passing out bonus checks.

Le, whose devastating one-punch starching of fellow former champion Rich Franklin became an instant “Knockout of the Year” candidate, would cast his “Fight of the Night” vote for Jon Tuck and Tiequan Zhang.

Tuck and Zhang battled back and forth in a fight that may have been closer than one of Tuck’s scores might otherwise indicate. Tuck (7-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC), fighting in the UFC for the first time, beat Zhang (15-4 MMA, 1-3 UFC) with a pair of 29-28s and a 30-27.

But their main-card fight on FUEL TV was fun enough that it stole away some of Le’s pre-fight prep work attention.

“That fight was pretty awesome,” Le said. “That could have been ‘Fight of the Night,’ also. I was actually backstage watching it, and I was like, ‘Wow. These guys are going back and forth.’ It’s hard for me because I’m a fan, too, and at the same time, (Don) House is grabbing my hands and saying, ‘Turn your hands.’ I was watching the screen because I was enjoying their fight.”

Zhang, a fan favorite from China fighting in front of his home country, dropped his third straight in the UFC, perhaps putting his job with the company in jeopardy.

His disappointed laid not just with the result, but with his plan of attack in the fight.

“I just feel like I didn’t have the right strategy for this fight,” Zhang said through an interpreter. “I think Jon Tuck was a pretty competitive fighter for me. I should be more excited (about fighting in China), but I just feel like I didn’t have the right strategy for tonight.”

Zhang was, though, optimistic about the UFC’s future in Asia, and China in particular.

“The fight in Macau will definitely help,” he said. “It is an historical moment. I feel like it is definitely going to help to promote MMA’s development into China. I think the China market has a lot more potential.”

Tuck, who is from Guam, said the experience of fighting on the UFC’s first card in China was big, so perhaps just the opportunity and the victory is as important to him as the bonus that went to Gomi and Danzig.

“It was just an honor for me to fight in China – to come from a small island and fight with a lot of heart,” Tuck said. “I knew that Tiequan was going to bring a lot to me, as well. I knew we were going to have an awesome fight. I didn’t expect anything less. It was a nice ground battle between the both of us. I know that he wanted to keep it exciting for the fans for the Chinese to enjoy it, and so did I.”

From Our Partners

The Latest

UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is probably the greatest female fighter on the planet, which is a tremendous feat. So why are we seemingly so obsessed with arguing about whether she could beat up men?